Thursday, February 19, 2015

February's Bloom Day has come and gone, and here I am posting late - again. I'm not even going to bore you with so-called excuses (like the Northwest Flower and Garden Show) from last weekend. I'll just launch right into my flowers.

Many of the "almost" blooms of January are beautifully full this month. Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata' is perfuming the entire back garden. Just one bloom cluster brought indoors is an intoxicating harbinger of spring.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

I'm ultra-late with my Bloom Day post. I took these photos on January 17th, but didn't get to posting this until today. Although this is likely the latest Bloom Day post ever, I'm emphatically not looking for the prize - I just wanted to record my garden's progress, so I'm going ahead and posting what was happening just a few days after Bloom Day in January.

Arctostaphylos 'Austin Griffiths' was beginning to bloom on its south-facing side. Although they were small, the flower clusters were thick all over the crown and are more and more glorious as they open further.

The much-maligned Vinca minor struggles to survive in the inhospitable ground around my front yard trees. While most Portlanders are eradicating Vinca as a thug, I'm enthusiastically cheering it on as the only thing that will grow (sort-of) there.

Rosemary is often the earliest to bloom, and this prostrate variety is no exception.

This plant was actually sold as Barbeque Rosemary. I get the moniker, but I'll wait until it gets a bit bigger to start clipping skewers from it.

Now we're into the "almost" part of this post: a NOID Camellia japonica.

Sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis hadn't started to drift its scent around the garden, but it can't be far off, especially now. This entry qualifies as both "little" and "almost".

Daphne odora 'Marginata' was almost popping.

I resent handing over the space this shrub occupies most of the year, but I love the fragrance when it blooms.

The third and last of my three Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide" was finally blooming. A little post-holiday of it, but it gets the most shade of the three 'Yuletides'.

Mahonia repens. Still waiting for those bright yellow flowers.

And last, a NOID Hellebore in deep shade is taking its sweet time, even now.

Check back in mid-February, when I'll just be returning from the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle. If the blogging goddess is with me, I'll post on the progress of all these "almosts" and hopefully a few new blooms.

Though you'd be hard-pressed to tell from the timing of this post, Bloom Day is sponsored on the 15th of each month by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. Click over to see what was blooming in January all over the place.